'Round the Cubes: Haunt - "The Deep North"

Photo courtesy hauntmusic.netHaunt will celebrate the latest CD release this Saturday, Sept. 13 at Pearl Street in Northampton, Mass. Spouse is also on the bill.

Jose Ayerve's fingerprints are all over Haunt's newest offering -- a full-length called "The Deep North." -- from the opening 15 seconds, with explosive, rhythmic guitar during "The Sea And The Soul" to the quiet electric soul of the CD ender, "Gone." Haunt man Matt Hebert's strong suit has always been his lyrics - and I always picture them being delivered in a smoke-filled Brass Cat - long before smoking was banned in bars and the Red Sox won the World Series.

Jeff Hobbs:
Listening to local music can sometimes feel a lot like eating your vegetables - something you know you should do more than you might necessarily want to. I'm happy to report that in the case of Haunt's "The Deep North," this is not the case - lead off track "The Sea and the Soul" demands undivided attention early on, and the rest of the album holds steady. The remainder of the album oscillates between driving rockers and more contemplative strummers (with the occasional clunky lyric). Overall, the production is crisp, with crunchy guitars and sharp drumming, but around the middle, a couple of the songs sound a bit flatter than the others - "I Suppose" and "How Fast We Fade" in particular suffer from guitars that muffle and compete with Hebert's excellent midrange, weathered vocals. Overall, "The Deep North" is a very accomplished effort, filled with remarkably strong songwriting and energetic performances from these Valley mainstays.

Matt Larsen:
For someone who has had such a deep footprint in the valley music scene over the years, you'd think that Matthew Hebert and his band Haunt's sound would be instantly familiar, but again he's surprised me with this new disc of hopeful and romantic rock songs. The opener, "The Sea and the Soul" hits the listener with the sweeping full band sound that Jose Ayerve has had such a hand in creating for a myriad of valley musicians and bands (including his own band, Spouse); slightly screaming guitars and up-front percussion without ever letting go of a sweet and lovely melody. Edgier and more rockin' than As Blue As Your Dying Eyes, Matt Hebert has always had a knack for delivering heart-crushing one-liners with his signature raspy voice. The Deep North is no exception with lyrics like "Lucky is the lovesick boy" and "There's so many things we didn't need to say". With talented local musicians all pitching in to create Haunt's rock sound, Hebert and Ayerve certainly made a record they can be proud of.

More news and reviews of Haunt's The Deep North:Mark Schwaber reviews it in Feedback